There are very few things we enjoy more on a rainy Sunday afternoon than a good old family jigsaw session. Lara is at that funny age now where most of our kiddy jigsaws don't hold much entertainment value for her, but full-blown thousand-piece puzzles targeted at adults are too much like hard work. The new range of 3D puzzles from Ravensburger are a great spot - they are designed for girls from around age 8 and when you've completed the puzzles you have a great ornament that you want to keep (or break down and build all over again..obviously!).
Lara has ABSOLUTELY LOVED building these puzzles. They've required hard work and concentration but she has completed them independently which gives her a sense of pride. In the range you'll find a pencil holder, a jewellery tree, a vase and a vanity box. Ravenburger make these 3D puzzles in both a unicorn design and this funky owls range which features bright bold colours, flowers and bumble bees.
The Funky Owls pencil holder is probably the simplest of the set of jigsaws to build. It has 54 pieces which are set into a purple plastic ring. The pieces are small but they are numbered to make it easier to identify them. The jigsaw pieces are made from a hardened plastic with the design printed on one side and identifying marks on the back. It took Lara about half an hour to build her first 3D jigsaw as she needed to get used to the way that the pieces fit together, stay upright and click into the purple ring that holds it all together. Lara is really very proud of this one!
The 3D vanity box jigsaw was Lara's favourite because she has a real use for the thing she has built. As a rectangle, it was a relatively simple build even though it has 216 pieces but the end result is really impressive; it is a box designed for you to be able to store brushes, hair accessories and cosmetics - a place for you to store your own, grown-up "stuff". The box itself comes with a shelf that sits on the top of the box in which you can place small pieces of jewellery or hair bands and clips. Its easy to see why young girls would love this puzzle!
Finally, the 3D vase puzzle ... gosh, this is a daunting one! We felt this was the most tricky 3D puzzle and made sure we read the instructions for this one. It is also 216 pieces but the shape means that it bulges out and then back in again. The vase contains a plastic insert into which you place the water for the flowers (it really is a usable vase, not just for looking pretty); you build the jigsaw up and around this cylinder as you go. This jigsaw is still work in progress and is a bit of a team effort but Lara is looking forward to placing it on her window ledge.
We thought that these 3D Ravensburger puzzles were targeted perfectly to girls aged 7-11 and would highly recommend them.
